Toy construction set and a method of assembling such a toy construction set

ABSTRACT

A toy construction set comprising a number of toy building blocks forming a construction having multiple coupling sockets, the toy building set further comprises a number of coupling pins and a flexible sheet having at least one hole. Each of the coupling pins extends in a longitudinal direction between a first end shaped for releasable attachment of the pin to one of the coupling sockets, and a second end extending away from the coupling socket in the attached position of the pin in the socket. The second end of the pin comprises a head arranged distally on a neck having a cross section allowing it to pass freely through the hole, and wherein the size and shape of the hole and of the head are adapted to make it impossible to pass the head through the hole without tearing or providing a plastic deformation on the flexible sheet.

THE PRIOR ART

The present invention relates to a toy construction set comprising anumber of toy building blocks forming a construction having multiplecoupling sockets arranged in a spatial or planar pattern, and where thetoy building set further comprises a number of coupling pins and aflexible sheet having at least one hole, and where each of the couplingpins extends in a longitudinal direction between a first end beingshaped for releasable attachment of the pin to one of the couplingsockets, and a second end extending away from the coupling socket in theattached position of the pin in the socket, and where the second end ofthe pin comprises a head arranged distally on a neck on the second endof the pin, and where the neck has a cross section allowing it to passfreely through the hole.

Toy construction sets are known in various different embodiments, and asan example US patent application no. 20170106309 discloses such a toyconstruction system, where the head of the coupling pins are spherical,and it is possible to pass through the hole in the flexible sheet byelastic deformation of the flexible sheet.

U.S. Pat. No. 2,885,822 furthermore discloses a toy construction sethaving coupling pins with a head having a size preventing that the headcan be shifted through the hole in the flexible sheet.

The toy construction sets provides many different options for attachingsheet elements to a rigid structure constructed with the buildingblocks.

THE OBJECT OF THE INVENTION

On this background it is the purpose of the present invention to providea construction set as mentioned in the introduction, and providing theuser with further options for easily building more differentconstructions with new and intriguing functionality.

This is obtained by the toy construction set according to claim 1 byhaving the size and shape of the hole and the size and shape of the headare adapted such that it is impossible to pass the head through the holewithout tearing or providing a plastic deformation on the flexiblesheet, and by having the neck extending between the head and a flangesurrounding the pin and the size and shape of the flange being such thatpassing the flange through the hole requires plastic deformation of theflexible sheet.

Thereby the flexible sheet is easy to attach to the coupling pin, but atthe same time it is impossible to detach from an assembled constructionas long as the coupling pin is mounted in a coupling socket.

In a preferred embodiment of the invention the head of the coupling pinis shaped like a panhead having a flat surface on the side of the headwhere the neck of the coupling pin is arranged, and a convex surface onthe opposite side. Thereby the risk of tearing the flexible sheet isreduced if a force is applied to the sheet trying to pull the sheet overthe head.

In a preferred embodiment of the invention the largest cross section ofthe head is in a direction perpendicular to the longitudinal directionlarger than the largest cross section of the hole in the flexible sheet.

In a further preferred embodiment the hole in the flexible sheet, andthe largest cross section of the head in a direction perpendicular tothe longitudinal direction are both circular.

Preferably the construction set comprises one or more of said buildingblocks, each having multiple coupling sockets arranged equidistantly atleast along one straight line.

The construction set according to the invention may advantageouslycomprise two or more of said building blocks, and at least one connectorpin having a first end adapted for being attached to a coupling socketon one of said building blocks, and an opposite end adapted for beingattached to a coupling socket on the other one of said building blocks.

In an especially advantageous embodiment of the invention the flexiblesheet is made from an elastically bendable material. Thereby the bendingelasticity of the flexible sheet, along with the secure attachment ofthe sheet to the coupling pin provides various new functionalitieswithout the risk that the flexible sheet disengages from the couplingpin.

In this relation the couplings sockets are preferably formed by asubstantially cylindrical through hole extending through the buildingblock.

The invention also provides a computer-readable model comprisingcomputer-readable instructions configured to cause, when processed by anapparatus for performing an additive manufacturing process, saidapparatus to manufacture the toy building elements as defined above.

Furthermore the invention provides a method of assembling at toyconstruction set according to one or more of the preceding claims,wherein the coupling pin is first attached to the flexible sheet bypassing the first end of the coupling pin through the hole in theflexible sheet, and thereafter the first end of the coupling pin isattached to the coupling socket of one of the toy building blocks.

THE DRAWING

In the following one or more embodiments of the invention will bedescribed in more detail and with reference to the drawing, where:

FIG. 1: Is a perspective view showing one embodiment of a toyconstruction set according to the present invention before assembly.

FIG. 2: Is a perspective view of the toy construction set shown in FIG.1 after assembly.

FIG. 3: Is a detailed side view of one as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2.

FIG. 4: Is a side view of a connector pin to be used with the toyconstruction set shown in FIGS. 1 and 2.

FIG. 5: Is a side view of an alternative embodiment of the coupling pinaccording to the invention.

DESCRIPTION OF EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS

FIG. 1 shows a very simple embodiment of a toy construction setaccording to the invention, having only a single building block 1, aflexible sheet 2, and a coupling pin 3 adapted for interconnecting thebuilding block 1 with the flexible sheet 2 to form a combinedconstruction.

The building block 1 has two legs forming a V, and each of the legs hasa row of coupling sockets 4 arranged equidistantly along a straightline, and being formed as cylindrical through holes with a recess 5arranged at each end of the through hole.

In the end of each of the legs on the building block 1 a second type ofcoupling socket 4 a are arranged being formed as a splined through hole.

Building blocks of this type, are well known in the prior art havingmany different shapes and sizes allowing the user to construct variousdifferent structures e.g. by interconnecting two or more such buildingblocks using a connector pin 17 as shown in FIG. 4 formed as acylindrical pin having oppositely arranged ends that extend away from amid-flange 18, and due to the cutouts 20, and the distally arranged endflanges 19 each may be snap fitted into one coupling socket 4 on twodifferent building blocks, so that the mid-flange 18 and the end flanges19 fits into the recesses 5 on each end of the coupling sockets 4.

In this way it is possible to construct both simple and complex andrigid or articulating structures such as toy sailing ships, toy tents,toy flag poles and the like, and by providing the opportunity ofmounting a sheet 2 on such structures, then it is possible to constructsuch toy structures that more realistically resembles real such sailingships, tents, flag poles and the like, where the sheet 2 respectivelyresembles the sails, the tent canvas or the flag.

It is therefore apparent to the skilled person that the presentinvention is applicable to any such constructions, and toy constructionsets.

According to this embodiment of the invention the sheet 2 has a hole 10and is possible to attach to the building block/building element 1 byusing a substantially cylindrical coupling pin 3 as shown in FIGS. 1 and3 by inserting the first end 11 of the substantially cylindricalcoupling pin 3 through the hole 10 in the sheet 2, and into a snapengagement with one of the coupling sockets 4 formed by cylindricalthrough holes in the building block 1. According to this embodiment ofthe invention the head 7 of the coupling pin 3 has a cross section in aplane being perpendicular to the longitudinal symmetry axis 12 of thecoupling pin 3 that is much larger than the width of the diameter of thecircular hole 10 in the sheet, so that it securely attached to thebuilding block 1 due to the fact that it is impossible to pass the head7 through the hole 10 without tearing or providing a plastic deformationof the sheet 2.

It will be apparent to the skilled person that it is possible, accordingto the invention, to design various different shapes and sizes of thehole 10 in the sheet 2 and corresponding shapes and sizes of the head 7of the coupling pin 3, and to select a sheet material og the sheet 2having an elasticity so that it is not possible to pass the head 7thorough the hole 10 without tearing the material of the sheet 2 or atleast forming a permanent/plastic deformation of the sheet materialaround the hole 10.

As an example the sheet 2 shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 also has a second hole10 a, being triangular with a side length so that it allows theintermediate flange 9 mentioned below to pass the hole 10 a.

In the embodiment shown in FIGS. 1 and 3 the head 7 is formed as apanhead having a flat surface on the side facing the sheet 2 and aconvex surface 16 facing away from the sheet 2 when it is attached tothe coupling pin as shown on FIG. 3. In this embodiment the coupling pin3 also has a neck 8 extending between the panhead 10 and an intermediateflange 9, and the diameter of the flange is in this embodiment smallerthan the diameter of the hole 10, whereas the diameter of the flange 9is a little larger than the diameter of the hole 10, so that is possibleto pass the flange 9 through the hole 10 by elastic deformation of thesheet. Thereby it is possible to attach the coupling pin 3 to the sheet2 without the risk of losing the coupling pin 3 when handling the sheet2 before it is attached to the building block 2 as shown on FIG. 2.

In some embodiments the holes have a triangular shape. This allows theflange to pass through the hole by elastic deformation of the hole whilereducing the risk of damaging the sheet.

In the same way as the connector pin 17 is possible to snap into one ofthe coupling sockets 4 on the building element, then the coupling pin 3shown in FIG. 3 is possible to snap into any one of the cylindricallyshaped coupling sockets 4 on the building block 1, where theintermediate flange 9 fits into the recess 5 on one side of the couplingsocket 4. In this way the same coupling socket 4 may be used for eitherinterconnecting building blocks 1 or for attaching coupling pins 3.

In this relation this embodiment of the invention also comprises asecond type of coupling sockets 4 a that are shaped as splined throughholes where a second type of coupling pin 24 as shown in FIG. 5 having asplined axle end are to be inserted into and held in place by friction.

1. A toy construction set comprising a number of toy building blocksforming a construction having a number of coupling sockets arranged in aspatial or planar pattern, and where the toy building set furthercomprises a number of coupling pins and a flexible sheet having at leastone hole, and where each of the coupling pins extends in a longitudinaldirection between a first end being shaped for releasable attachment ofthe pin to one of the coupling sockets, and a second end extending awayfrom the coupling socket in the attached position of the pin in thesocket, and where the second end of the pin comprises a head arrangeddistally on a neck on the second end of the pin, and where the neck hasa cross section allowing it to pass freely through the hole, and wherethe size and shape of the hole and the size and shape of the head areadapted such that it is impossible to pass the head through the holewithout tearing or providing a plastic deformation on the flexiblesheet, wherein the neck extends between the head and a flangesurrounding the pin, and the size and shape of the flange is such thatpassing the flange through the hole requires plastic deformation of theflexible sheet.
 2. The toy construction set according to claim 1,wherein the head is shaped like a panhead, or having a flat surface atthe side of the head facing the neck.
 3. The toy construction setaccording to claim 1, wherein the hole is triangular.
 4. The toyconstruction set according to claim 3, wherein the cross section of theneck is circular having a diameter being smaller than a correspondingdiameter of a circle circumscribing the triangular hole.
 5. The toyconstruction set according to claim 4, wherein a cross section of theflange is circular having a diameter being larger than the correspondingdiameter of the circle inscribing the triangular hole.
 6. The toyconstruction set according to claim 1, wherein a largest cross sectionof the head is in a direction perpendicular to the longitudinaldirection and is larger than a largest cross section of the hole in theflexible sheet.
 7. The toy construction set according to claim 6,wherein the hole in the flexible sheet, and the largest cross section ofthe head in a direction perpendicular to the longitudinal direction areboth circular.
 8. The toy construction set according to claim 1, whereinthe construction set comprises one or more of said building blocks, eachhaving multiple coupling sockets arranged equidistantly at least alongone straight line.
 9. The toy construction set according to claim 1,wherein the construction set comprises two or more of said buildingblocks, and at least one connector pin having a first end adapted forbeing attached to a coupling socket on one of said building blocks, andan opposite end adapted for being attached to a coupling socket on theother one of said building blocks.
 10. The toy construction setaccording to claim 1, wherein the flexible sheet is made from anelastically bendable material.
 11. The toy construction set according toclaim 1, wherein each of the couplings sockets are formed by asubstantially cylindrical through hole extending through the buildingblock.
 12. computer-readable model comprising computer-readableinstructions configured to cause, when processed by an apparatus forperforming an additive manufacturing process, said apparatus tomanufacture the toy building elements according to claim
 1. 13. A methodof assembling a toy construction set according to claim 1, wherein thecoupling pin is first attached to the flexible sheet by passing thefirst end of the coupling pin through the hole in the flexible sheet,and thereafter the first end of the coupling pin is attached to thecoupling socket of one of the toy building blocks.